Deep inside an Arctic mountain, Magnus Breveli-Pveitin, project manager for the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, inspects one of the Norwegian seed bank's chambers on February 25, 2008—the day before its official dedication.

The vault opened on February 26 near the island town of Longyearbyen. Underwritten by the government of Norway, the structure took less than a year to build, despite having to be drilled into permafrost.